The present invention relates generally to a ramp system apparatus for loading materials and equipment and, more particularly, to such a ramp system apparatus on a trailer which folds out into a sloping configuration.
Trailers have long been used for transporting various loads, including equipment, large round hay bales, and other materials. For many applications, it is preferable that the trailer bed comprises a large unhindered flat area. This generally requires that the bed be positioned above the wheels such that fenders and wheel cowlings do not protrude above and interfere with the upper surface of the trailer bed. For trailers having loading ramps, the higher elevation of such an unhindered flat bed area generally requires that equipment and materials being displaced along those ramps experience radical shifts of their center of gravity during the loading process. This situation leads not only to substantially reduced stability during the loading process but also leads to a requirement of substantially greater thrust while displacing the load onto the trailer.
Another complication that sometimes arises with ramps occurs for those trailers wherein the ramps are separate accessories rather than remaining an integral part of the trailer apparatus. As a result, such ramps can be inadvertently misplaced and not be available when needed. Also, such ramps can sometimes bounce loose and be lost along a transportation route.
One common use of flat bed trailers is for transportation of large round hay bales. Various types of riggings, many haphazard, have been employed for securing such bales to the underlying trailer.
What is needed is a ramp system which is an integral part of a trailer whereby the ramps cannot bounce loose and which provides a loading arrangement causing less abrupt shifting of the centers of gravity of the equipment and materials being loaded onto the trailer. A simple, releasable mechanism is also needed for maintaining large round bales on a flat bed trailer while being transported.